WrestlingRumors.net

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The Bad News. Mainstream Entertainment News Picks Up WWE Ratings Woes.

Posted: 23 Jul 2019 12:24 AM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/bad-news-mainstream-entertainment-news-picks-wwe-ratings-woes/


Any publicity is good publicity right? I think it’s fair to say that WWE
is in some trouble at the moment. Fans just are not liking what they are presenting and the audiences have been going down for a long time. Couple
that with all kinds of other wrestling companies being out there and
readily available and WWE’s audience isn’t what it once was. Now, a pretty big media outlet has noticed.

Variety.com has released a new article looking at WWE’s performance over
the first part of the year in anticipation of WWE releasing its second
quarter financial results on Thursday. The gist of the article is that
WWE’s ratings and audiences are both falling at a high rate and Vince McMahon’s excuse of “superstar absences” from the previous quarter does not
hold up this time. USA and FOX are both said to be upset at the numbers
and want an explanation and a change. It is not clear what McMahon will
say to explain the numbers going down again.

Maybe the Networks would like something like this. Check out Roman Reigns attacking McMahon:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: This one is going to be hard to spin, but more importantly what matters here is that it could change things up a little bit. It is fairly clear that what WWE is doing at the moment is not working, so maybe they
could shake up their creative process at the moment. I would expect to
hear Paul Heyman and Eric Bischoff’s names mentioned a lot, but if those changes don’t go anywhere, I’m not sure what WWE is going to do.

What will McMahon’s excuse be? What will it take for a major change in
WWE? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post The Bad News. Mainstream Entertainment News Picks Up WWE Ratings Woes. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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The Cliffnotes Version. Full List Of Legends Appearing On Raw Reunion.

Posted: 23 Jul 2019 12:20 AM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/cliffnotes-version-full-list-legends-appearing-raw-reunion/


That’s a lot of people. This week’s episode of Monday Night Raw featured the company’s latest homecoming style special, Raw Reunion. The show was hyped up for as long as possible given its eight day turnaround from
Extreme Rules, but some big names were certainly involved. WWE advertised several names for the show, but who all actually appeared?

Raw Reunion featured approximately 37 names making appearances, the
majority of which were announced in advance. Not everyone received
speaking time and several of them were cameos in the backstage area with nothing being said whatsoever. Many of the names did appear in the arena
in the segment that closed the show. Here is a list of everyone who
appeared on the show:

John Cena

Rikishi

D-Von Dudley

Jimmy Hart

Hulk Hogan

Booker T.

Kaitlyn

Torrie Wilson

Santino Marella

Godfather

Boogeyman

Pat Patterson

Christian

Lilian Garcia

Eve Torres

Eric Bischoff

Gerald Brisco

Kelly Kelly

Jillian Hall

Kurt Angle

Candice Michelle

Melina

Alundra Blayze

Rob Van Dam

Sgt. Slaughter

Hurricane

Ric Flair

Ted DiBiase

Jerry Lawler

Shawn Michaels

Road Dogg

Kevin Nash

Scott Hall

X-Pac

Mark Henry

Mick Foley

Steve Austin

Most of them are here. Check out a big gathering at the end of the show:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: I know the show is going to get some back and forth opinions, but
at least some of these names are going to get people talking. The show was entertaining enough and gave me some nice nostalgia, which was exactly the point of something like this. Now hopefully it leads to some fans sticking around, though I’m not sure how well the show is going to do at making fans come back next week.

Who was the best surprise of the show? Who did you want to see that didn’t appear? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post The Cliffnotes Version. Full List Of Legends Appearing On Raw Reunion. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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(VIDEO): Were Not Done Yet. One More Legend Appears Backstage At Raw
Reunion.

Posted: 23 Jul 2019 12:14 AM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-not-done-yet-one-legend-appears-backstage-raw-reunion/


The man, the myth, the student. This week’s Monday Night Raw was the Raw Reunion special, with a variety of wrestlers showing up for the first time
in many years. Some of these names were bigger than others, with people
such as Steve Austin and Hulk Hogan being the major attractions. As it
turns out though, not all of the legends made it to the broadcast.

WWE has posted a video to their YouTube page showing Nicholas appearing backstage. Nicholas, the then ten year old who won the Raw Tag Team Titles with Braun Strowman at WrestleMania 34, said that he was in the building to challenge for the 24/7 Title and promised that R-Truth would get his
hands. Since winning the titles, Nicholas has been mentioned occasionally
by WWE, though never on an actual show.

The kid still gives me chills. Check out Nicholas’ appearance:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: This is the kind of thing that WWE could do for years to come. Nicholas was a rather unique moment back in the day and it would be
hilarious to have him show up again at some point in the future, especially
if Strowman is still around. I know it’s not the funniest gag in the
world, but there are far worse things that WWE could use their time doing.

Did you like the Nicholas gag? Should he ever appear again? Let us know
in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post (VIDEO): Were Not Done Yet. One More Legend Appears Backstage At
Raw Reunion. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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You Dont See This Every Day. Randy Orton Wants International Dream Match
With NJPW Star.

Posted: 23 Jul 2019 12:11 AM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/dont-see-every-day-top-wwe-star-wants-international-dream-match/


It would be a dream match. Wrestling is in an interesting place at the
moment with so many companies being available to the masses through the internet and the huge amount of cable channels available. It has allowed
fans to see so many matches they never thought they would see before, but
there are a lot of them still out there. That is the case with one
pairing, though the wrestlers themselves are talking about it.

On Monday, Randy Orton and New Japan’s Will Ospreay exchanged tweets with Ospreay talking about wanting to do something that made him happy every
day. Orton replied by saying that wasn’t something that existed, though
WWE is all about wanting to put smiles on faces. It was actually Orton
himself who used the Orton vs. Ospreay hashtag and suggested the match.
There are no plans on any such match as long as Orton works for WWE.

Realistically nah maybe you got me there ? I’m happy tho

Hope you are happy where you are. But unfortunately my friend I’m here for the long run.

I mean you’re like a multi time champ, could you just leave for a bit come here for #OspreayVsOrton then go backjust saying ? https://t.co/3G1EtIkA9s

- ???? ??????? • ????????? (@WillOspreay) July 22, 2019



Orton knows how to deal with a high flier. Check out one of the all time
great RKO’s:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: I mean, of course this match isn’t happening anytime soon, but it’s certainly something fun to think about. That’s the perk of wrestling dream matches, especially when you look at the two biggest companies in the world. These worlds very rarely collide and while they aren’t likely to in the first place, this is the kind of thing that fans enjoy thinking about
and always will.

Could this match ever happen? What would happen? Let us know in the
comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post You Dont See This Every Day. Randy Orton Wants International
Dream Match With NJPW Star. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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(WATCH): It Was Worth The Effort. Hornswoggle Tells An Awesome Story About Being Revealed As Vince McMahons Son.

Posted: 23 Jul 2019 12:07 AM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/watch-worth-effort-hornswoggle-tells-awesome-story-revealed-vince-mcmahons-son/


They did what they could. You remember Hornswoggle. He was a leprechaun
who could talk, then forgot how to talk, then won a battle royal and used a Christmas wish to learn how to talk again, then had a feud with a miniature bull. Well he also was once revealed as Vince McMahon’s illegitimate son
in an angle that went off the rails (to put it mildly). As it turns out,
the reveal was rather detailed in ways few stories are handled.

Hornswoggle was recently interviewed by Chris Van Vliet where he discussed, among other things, the night he was revealed as McMahon’s illegitimate
son. In addition to having to hand over his phone so that he would not be
able to tell anyone what was going to happen, Hornswoggle was forced to
stay under the ring for over six hours so no one would be able to see him before the reveal.

This is some serious protection. Check out the interview in full (which is quite good):
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: Hornswoggle has told this story before but that doesn’t make it
any less insane. I’ll give WWE points for trying to protect everything
that they were going to do that night and it would be nice to have an angle that big in the current product. It feels that all of the angles and
stories today are low key and rarely feel big, so having something like
this instead would be nice.

Was WWE being ridiculous? What is your favorite big angle in wrestling?
Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post (WATCH): It Was Worth The Effort. Hornswoggle Tells An Awesome
Story About Being Revealed As Vince McMahons Son. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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The Build Is Working. Two Matches Added To All Out Card, Including A Title Match.

Posted: 23 Jul 2019 12:01 AM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/build-working-two-matches-added-card-including-title-match/


The card has to grow. While we are only a little over two months removed
from AEW’s debut event, they have already held two more shows and it is
time to get ready for their next pay per view. That would be All Out on
August 31 and now it is time to start getting the card ready. Some of
those matches are already set and now, even more of them are set.

On the latest episode of Being The Elite, AEW announced a pair of matches
for All Out. The show will include the Dark Order vs. Best Friends for a
first round by in the Tag Team Title tournament, as both teams had won
matches on previous events to earn the shot. Also announced for the show
was the Young Bucks vs. the Lucha Bros for the AAA Tag Team Titles in a
ladder match. The Lucha Bros issued a challenge for this match at Fight
For The Fallen.

All this and more. Check out the latest episode of Being The Elite:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: This is the kind of thing that has to be done as the card now has
five matches with about five weeks to go before the event. These matches
were set up at previous shows and now they have been announced for the
card. That’s about as logical of a way as you can go and they did it
rather well here. Just have the matches be good and everything will work
out fine in the end.

Which of these matches sounds better? What do you want to see added to the show? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post The Build Is Working. Two Matches Added To All Out Card,
Including A Title Match. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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(VIDEO): Two For The Road. What Happened After Raw Reunion Went Off The
Air (Two Parts).

Posted: 22 Jul 2019 11:59 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/video-two-road-happened-raw-reunion-air-two-parts/


They’re not done yet. Raw Reunion has come and gone and the nostalgia was strong with this one. The show featured nearly forty legends making appearances, many of which were their first in several years. This made
for a rather interesting evening, with Steve Austin being the big featured attraction to end the show. That was what happened, but the show was not
over.

WWE has posted a video to its YouTube page showing the celebration not
ending after the show went off the air. After Raw Reunion ended, Austin
and the other legends held a beer bash, including Austin pouring beer over Lilian Garcia. Austin then drank a lot more beer to close out the evening
and send the fans home happy. There was no post show dark match to end the show.

There are two ways to do this. Check out a fan video of Garcia being
covered in beer and the official WWE video:
[This post contains video, click to play]
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: This is the kind of thing that needed to end the show, which
didn’t have the highest levels of moments to advance anything forward.
There is nothing wrong with ending on a big nostalgia moment and that’s
what we got here, as Austin with his beer is the kind of thing that is
going to work no matter what. The problem is they don’t have that next
week and it’s going to become a problem.

Who was your favorite legend on the show? How long will it be before
Austin returns? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post (VIDEO): Two For The Road. What Happened After Raw Reunion Went
Off The Air (Two Parts). appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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REVIEW: Raw 25: The Previous Biggest Reunion Ever

Posted: 22 Jul 2019 11:54 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/review-raw-25-previous-biggest-reunion-ever/


Welcome to KB’s Old School (and New School) Reviews. I’ve been reviewing wrestling shows for over ten years now and have reviewed over 5,000 shows. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I’ll be posting a new review here on Wrestlingrumors.net, starting today. It could be anything from modern WWE
to old school to indies to anything in between. Note that I rate using
letters instead of stars and I don’t rate matches under three minutes as really, how good or bad can something that short be?
Monday Night Raw 25th Anniversary

Date: January 22, 2018

Location: Manhattan Center, New York City, New York/Barclays Center, New
York City, New York

Commentators: Michael Cole, Corey Graves, Booker T., Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler
Now this is a big night with the show having been build up for several
months and a slew of guest stars booked for the night. The show is also
being run from two arenas, including the location of the first ever
episode. I’m more excited for this than I am for Sunday’s Royal Rumble so let’s get to it.
This is as good of an opening as you can get:
[This post contains video, click to play]
JR and King welcome us from the Manhattan Center, complete with an ICOPRO
sign.
The regular announcers’ team welcome us from the Barclays Center.
Shane McMahon and Stephanie McMahon are in the ring to open the show with Stephanie doing that ever present growling introduction. Shane thanks us
for being here along with all the people behind the scenes who make this happen. With that, Shane introduces us to the long highlight reel of Raw moments. This was released on the site’s YouTube page and is very awesome with almost every major Raw moment ever.
Back in the arena, Stephanie introduces Vince, who absolutely has to be
here for the opening sequence. Vince nearly dances in the ring and says
twenty five years is quite the accomplishment. The fans chant THANK YOU
VINCE (which Stephanie explains to him) but Vince says enough of that and we’re off to the festivities. Vince goes to leave but Stephanie and Shane have a present for him.
They have a plaque commemorating his twenty five years of Raw….and he’s not happy. Vince goes on a rant about it being cheap and how plaque is the
horrible stuff on the people of Brooklyn’s teeth. There’s only one person who should be thanked for all of this and that’s Vince himself. As he goes off about how great he is…the glass shatters.
After Austin does his usual entrance, Vince praises Austin’s look but says he’s had his own share of health problems. His bones are broken and brittle and he has arthritis and he even lives in a retirement home. Vince: “But my son Shane is in his prime!” Austin raises Shane’s hand and gives him a Stunner to the delight of the fans. Vince produces beers and the fans chant
ONE MORE TIME! Vince: “I don’t think Shane can take another one!” They drink their beer and hug but Austin looks at Vince, followed by one more Stunner for old times’ sake. For some reason Shane gets up and takes one
more Stunner.
Sometimes you dont need words:
[This post contains video, click to play]
This was just about the perfect opening as you have to have Vince there for something like this and if there’s Vince, there must be Austin. All those Stunners over the years were a huge part of the show and Austin is arguably
the name that more people would associate with Raw than anyone else. This
was great and the only way things should have gone to start.
Absolution/Alicia Fox/Nia Jax vs. Bayley/Sasha Banks/Mickie James/Asuka There’s a big brawl before the bell and Asuka has banged up ribs. She’s still able to kick Sonya to the floor though and we take an early break.
Back with Asuka hip attacking half of the villains off the apron before
it’s off to Jax vs. Banks. That goes fairly badly for Sasha who gets caught in Alicia’s northern lights suplex for two.
We hit the chinlock until Banks gets double teamed in the corner.
Everything breaks down and we take a second break because it’s not like there’s a lot of stuff to get to tonight. Back with Banks grabbing the Bank Statement to make Fox tap at 11:58. The stuff after the break was less than fifteen seconds long.
Rating: C-. This was fine all things considered but at the same time,
there’s some other stuff going on tonight that they need to cover. That’s kind of the problem with having this big special on the same night as the
go home show for the Rumble. They have to build things up but at the same
time they have to get to the big special features. The match was fine, but probably should have been shorter.
Post match Asuka throws her partners over the top in a Sunday preview.
Kurt Angle is in the back when Jonathan Coachman comes in. Coach talks
about all the faces he’s seen around here, so cue Harvey Wippleman and the Brooklyn Brawler who offer cigars. Cue Teddy Long for the required dancing. Brother Love comes in (he scared me to death as a kid) and declares love
for everyone until Boogeyman comes in, complete with the worms in the mouthwhich he hands to Coach. A lot of staring ensues.
Sometimes you need random cameos:
[This post contains video, click to play]
In the Manhattan Center, JR and King (who mentions puppies) introduce a
nice video package on Undertaker’s greatest Raw moments.
Here’s the Undertaker, with the lights not going out for his entrance in a strange visual (flashback to his original). For twenty five years, he’s buried souls who dared to challenge him and buried them in the cold dark
earth. Steve Austin, Mick Foley, his brother Kane have all fallen before
the reaper and now, after all this time, they may rest in peace. JR: “Is
that a warning?” The music plays again and no one interrupts. I’ll believe it’s over when I don’t see him at Wrestlemania but that seems to be the case at the moment.
We go to the APA’s office with Heath Slater losing all of his money in a poker game as Rhyno shakes his head. Someone comes in and throws some money down….and of course it’s Ted DiBiase. They deal him in and we get the evil laugh. Still the greatest villain of all time for my money.
Here’s are some of the all time greatest General Managers: Johnny Ace (with
a red suit and blue tie), William Regal, Eric Bischoff (to a ROAR) and
Daniel Bryan. Miz and the Miztourage interrupt though and it’s time for one of the big matches.
Intercontinental Title: The Miz vs. Roman Reigns
Miz is challenging. They take their time to start until Reigns pops him
with a right hand. The Miztourage offers a distraction though and Miz sends
him into the steps as we take a break. Back with Reigns hitting the corner clotheslines, followed by a running big boot. The apron dropkick connects
but the spear is countered into a rollup for two with the feet on the
ropes. The YES Kicks keep Roman in trouble but the big kick is countered
into a sitout powerbomb for two.
Another apron dropkick takes the Miztourage out and Reigns slips out of the Skull Crushing Finale for another Superman Punch. Bo Dallas grabs the foot though and Miz hits his corner clothesline. That means a double ejection
but Reigns hits them one more time, allowing the Skull Crushing Finale to connect for two. Back up and Reigns tries the spear but hits an exposed turnbuckle pad. The Skull Crushing Finale makes Miz an eight time champion
at 13:13. A replay shows that Miz got the pad off when Reigns was beating
up the Miztourage for a nice surprise.
Rating: C. This was a booking decision more than anything else and there’s nothing wrong with that. The loss lets Reigns drop the title before he wins
the Universal Title at Wrestlemania (THIS TIME FOR SURE!) and the win gives
Miz something else to do, especially now that he’s less than three months away from the most combined days as champion (and only one reign behind
Chris Jericho’s record).
Back to the poker game with the Hardys, the Usos, and MVP playing as Slater continues to lose his money.
It’s time for the Peep Show with Christian. He knows a thing or two about being a Tag Team Champion so his guests are Jason Jordan and Seth Rollins. Jordan takes over for Seth and talks about what an honor it is to be here
but the crowd won’t let him talk. Jordan eventually talks about Kurt and
asks the fans to applaud him. Cue the Bar to say that all the fans are
because of them, not all the legends. They’ll be getting the titles back on Sunday and it’s because Jordan sucks. We hit the YOU SUCK song and the
brawl is on. Sheamus gets knocked to the floor but Seth’s springboard knee hits Jordan.
Alexa Bliss is annoyed at being asked if she’ll still be champion at Wrestlemania. Charlotte comes in and MY GOODNESS she towers over Alexa. She says Alexa doesn’t have the stature to be champion and Ric Flair himself comes in to say Charlotte is going to be champion until she decides to hang
up the robe. Flair appearing was great, though they’re teasing the heck out of one of these two losing before Wrestlemania.
Video on Edge, who isn’t here tonight.
More people are at the poker game, now including Natalya and Titus
Worldwide. Heath loses again, this time to Natalya’s queen high flush in hearts. Dana has counted it up: Heath has lost a lot.
Bray Wyatt vs. Matt Hardy
In the Manhattan Center and this match takes place here? Sister Abigail is broken up in the first five seconds as JR tries to figure out what Sister Abigail is. Matt grabs a Russian legsweep and drops the middle rope elbow
to the back of the head. The Twist of Fate is broken up and Bray runs him
over as we take a break. Back with Matt hitting a running corner
clothesline but having his bulldog broken up. The Side Effect gets two on
Bray but Sister Abigail is good for the pin on Matt at 5:48. Not enough
shown to rate but that’s quite the abrupt loss in the first match between these two.
Back in Barclays, here are some of the greatest female talents ever: the
Bella Twins, Maryse, Kelly Kelly, Lilian Garcia, Jacqueline, Torrie Wilson, Michelle McCool, Terri Runnels, Maria Kanellis and of course Trish Stratus
as the big name. This group is declared as trailblazers so I have a good
laugh as we cut away.
They did some great stuff:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Elias is walking through the back when he runs into Chris Jericho (in an
Alpha Club shirt). Chris compliments his scarves and asks if he can play a
song he’s written about Elias. He can’t borrow the guitar but worry not because Jericho has his own. The song is about Elias being a stupid idiot
and HE JUST MADE THE LIST! Jericho loads up the pen but says he’s kidding. Jericho: “NO I’M NOT! YOU JUST MADE THE LIST!”
Here’s Elias in the ring to talk about how amazing it is that it took Raw twenty five years to find him. WWE stands for Walk With Elias but the fans won’t let him play his song. Elias wants to sing it for the fans but points out Jimmy Fallon in the front row. The song is about the various legends, including talking about how Shawn’s time is passed and Undertaker is a decrepit old man. He’s going to the Royal Rumble but here’s John Cena to interrupt.
Cena asks the crowd if they’re loud now and points out that both he and Brooklyn have balls because there they are (it’s a beach ball in this
case). Elias tells him to shut up because the fans are there to see Elias
but Cena ruined it. Cena tells him to do something about it but Elias says
no and teases leaving. The fight is on of course and Cena hits his
finishing sequence but the AA is cut off by a low blow. A guitar to the
back leaves Cena laying and Drift Away makes it even better. I’m pleasantly surprised here as this was a very solid rub for Elias who took some of
Cena’s best and left him laying. Good stuff here.
New Day is at the poker game now with Woods betting pancakes. Slater
FINALLY wins a hand but is accused of cheating. A fight nearly breaks out
and Bradshaw says if you want to fight, do it in the ring. Oh I can feel
the Revival’s death coming from here. Titus Worldwide and Slater/Rhyno
leave but DiBiase wins with a royal flush. As he rakes in the chips, Ron Simmons says his catchphrase.
Mark Henry is in the back and runs into the Godfather and….some random
woman. Godfather brings up Sexual Chocolate but Henry says that was a long
time ago. Henry seems to hit on the woman….and it’s Godfather’s wife. Mark
smiles and isn’t sure what to think.
Titus Worldwide vs. Heath Slater/Rhyno
Titus chops Rhyno to start before it’s off to Crews vs. Slater with Heath starting in on the arm. A very delayed vertical suplex puts Heath down and
we take a break. IN THIS MATCH??? Back with the match being thrown out at
5:40. Again not enough to rate but this seems like a means to an end.
Cue the Dudley Boyz (including Bubba, who was named ROH GM two days ago and

[continued in next message]

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